Arcadia

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Themes

Utopia Versus Reality

The titular Arcadia is founded on utopian ideals. The cultural tumult of 1960s through 1970s America inspires people like Hannah and Abe to remove themselves from society and create a more peaceful environment. Arcadia is built on principles of radical autonomy, veganism, free love, lack of individual possession, and lack of hierarchy. However, the practice of utopia is more difficult than the theory of utopia. As Gloria, an Amish librarian, later points out, Arcadia was destined to fail because the members were incapable of fending for themselves. They believed they could create a microcosm of society that was good, but struggled to farm and ultimately destroyed themselves. Handy, the unofficial leader of Arcadia, violates his own principles by creating hierarchy and living for his own pleasure. Meanwhile, the rest of the members work hard and sacrifice for the good of the community. This imbalance leads to hunger and poverty, endangering the community, especially the children.

The utopian ideal of radical autonomy is idyllic but unrealistic. Humans, left to their own devices, often turn to pleasure—especially without risk of punishment. The drug use and sex lives of Arcadians are countercultural reactions to conservative America. However, these activities endanger the community, especially children like Bit. Children are exposed to drugs and alcohol because their psychology is equated to that of adults, with discipline being understood as society’s desire to control children. This leads to Helle drinking acid when she is only five, as well as her adolescent introduction to sex with older men. Arcadia welcomes all newcomers, but among the strangers are criminals and people who use utopia as an excuse for hedonism. By Arcadian ethos, people who commit crimes like sexual harassment should be treated with compassion, not discipline. This means Arcadians can abuse others without punishment, causing further tension.

Overall, Arcadia fails because Handy is greedy, and because Arcadians are ill-equipped to survive in a utopian society. Attaining utopia, perfection, is impossible because humans are intrinsically flawed. The destruction of Arcadia parallels that of Earth at the hands of humans, who destroy the planet in their greed for resources. In other words, wherever humans live, whether it be a commune designed to appreciate nature or a society run by corporations and institutions, humans are just as susceptible to destruction as they are to creation.

Loss of Innocence

Bit is raised in innocence: In Arcadia, he is not exposed to stresses such as capitalistic conformity, police brutality, war, and loss of self. The stresses he is exposed to, hunger and poverty, are considered necessary challenges that make the community stronger and prove their “purity.” Teenage Bit is old enough to sense right from wrong, but too young to understand why Arcadia is not a utopia. One of Bit’s first losses of innocence is Abe and Hannah’s feud with Handy and Astrid. This tension between close friends is compounded by Hannah’s Creative Critique, which signals to Bit that his home is a façade of utopia. Later, he confides in Helle about his family’s Plot Pot, and she steals from them. This is a violation of trust, the first of many betrayals. Still, when Bit sees Helle being pressured into sex by two men on Cockaigne Day, he feels alarmed for her and disillusioned by their home. When he finally leaves Arcadia, his first glimpse of the Outside is overwhelming—foreshadowing further loss of innocence.

In his 30s, Bit loses his innocence yet again when Helle abandons him and their daughter, Grete. Despite her flaws, Bit loves Helle unconditionally. He assumes she overcame her childhood trauma because he himself recovered, and believes his own ability to love and heal. When Helle leaves, he is forced to confront the fact that no matter how much he takes care of others, people can and will betray him due to their own issues. Bit feels betrayed yet again when Abe dies by his and Hannah’s suicide attempt, as his parents are his foundation. He is shocked every time someone “betrays” him, emphasizing that loss of innocence is often a gradual process.

The fall of Arcadia is also a loss of innocence. The original utopia, the biblical Garden of Eden, is lost in a similar way: When Adam and Eve discover knowledge of shame and suffering, it comes at the price of innocence. Knowledge undoes ignorance, and is what makes humans human. Overall, the loss of Arcadia mirrors that of Eden. Arcadia falls because residents and outsiders become aware of its hypocrisies, indiscretions, and abuse. In confronting the truth, lifelong residents like Hannah and Abe come to terms with their own loss of innocence by accepting that utopias are unrealistic.

Nature Versus Nurture

In Arcadia, Lauren Groff suggests nurture has a more lasting impact than nature. Bit exemplifies this idea: Though he is raised and loved by many in Arcadia, he is truly raised by parents, Hannah and Abe. They protect him from Arcadia’s hypocrisies, indiscretions, and abuse. Despite the commune’s belief that children do not belong to their parents, Hannah and Abe take responsibility for Bit, which saves him from becoming traumatized like Helle. Bit’s parents are role models for good living, as they extend empathy to themselves and others. He is raised to be equally empathetic. His parents encourage his reading and sense of self, and sacrifice themselves for his well-being. They remove Bit from Arcadia when survival becomes untenable, and unlike other Arcadians, they stay together in the Outside. Like Hannah, Bit is diagnosed with depression, but his parents do not frame it as selfish. They encourage professional help and support him through his pursuit of art. Bit’s use of photography contrasts with Handy’s weaponization of music to gain followers—which also reflects in Handy and wife Astrid’s parenting (or lack thereof).

Helle’s well-being is left to nature, as she is unnurtured by Handy and Astrid. Her parents focus on their own ambitions in Arcadia, believing children are capable of making their own decisions without adult interference. They leave Helle to raise herself, while exposing her to adult issues like drugs and sex. Because she doesn’t receive guidance from her parents, she has no way of conceptualizing right from wrong. She and her brothers, Ike, Erik, and Leif, know their parents don’t love them because they don’t take interest in their lives. Thus, Helle becomes a woman who believes self-worth is found in sexuality. Without knowledge of boundaries, she has sex with older men as a teenager, lost in her own lack of identity. When Arcadia falls, she doesn’t have her parents to rely on. Instead, Helle is sent to Norway to live with her grandmother Margrete, a stranger to her. This lack of nurture leads to a drug addiction that threatens to ruin her life. She is unable to be present for her new family, Bit and Grete, because she doesn’t know what family truly is. Helle is unable to overcome her childhood trauma and becomes self-destructive, ultimately leaving her new family. Overall, Bit and Helle’s juxtaposed journeys highlight the importance of nurture over nature.